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The visibly muscular, lean gym body continues to appears in social media sites.

The thin and softly toned Pilates princess is a new trend in social media, particularly for younger women.

The lean and flexible yoga bod remains highly visible in social media.

All three ideals are unrealistic for most women, and more diverse representations of fit bodies are needed.

Social media now acts as a platform to effectively circulate different images of idealized bodies and to popularize them into fitness trends. The current trends include the gym body, the Pilates princess, and the yoga bod.

In her recent research, Bridgette Desjardins (2026) observed that social media has depicted “the image of muscular, spandex-covered fitfluencers” (p. 203) during the last decade. This ideal is sometimes dubbed the gym body: the lean, muscular body shaped through a consistent weight training regimen. This coincides with the rise of CrossFit and with an associated phrase, “strong is the new sexy.”

Despite the acceptance of more muscular feminine bodies, Desjardins emphasized that women with more muscular looks tend to opt for a conventional feminine appearance outside of the gym. Regardless, Desjardins considered that more women are now encouraged to participate in strength sports such as powerlifting to build visible muscle definition.

While the images of the gym body continue to circulate, another quite different image has recently been popularized, particularly via TikTok. The........

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